Category Archives: Rogue

Rogue Update 01-19-09

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So, we’ve lowered the dosage of Fluoxitine back down to 5 mg. per day now, and the good news is that at this dosage, she seems to have settled back into her normal self. That’s not to say that she’s not anxious, but at least she’s not sitting there with her teeth chattering and she’s not going after all the dogs to instigate a fight. :-) I think we’ll keep her at this dosage for another month or month and a half and see how she’s doing.

With the warmer temperatures the last week or so, the snow is melting on the ATV trails that we hike on, so it’s a muddy mess now. Not fun to walk in, or to try to brush out of 7 long haired dogs. I hope it either dries out soon, or freezes back up so we can get back into our routine.
I don’t like snow, but at least it’s still easy enough to walk in. On the bright side…the snow is gone in the yard, and we’re back down to the grass, so we can play in the yard a bit now! Woohoo!

Walking in Winter

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We’ve been walking as much as possible this winter to keep everybody busy. I thought I’d post some of the pictures from our walks. It cracks me up because on nearly every walk, Penny and Zoe end up together, Raven has Layla hot on her heels, Twist and Lucy head off to make their own trails, and Rogue stays with me.

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Rogue Update 01-15-09

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O.K. So Rogue has been getting the higher dosage of 10 mg. per day of Fluoxitine for nearly two weeks now. I wish I had better news to report, but I don’t. Instead both my husband and I have noticed that she is getting more anxious and reactive instead of less. :-( She has also been acting more aggressive towards the other dogs in the house, not just targeting Zoe. We haven’t had any altercations, (thank goodness!) but I think that’s due in part to the fact that the other dogs just can’t figure out what in the world she is doing. They just look at her like: “What is wrong with you?, and What do you think you’re doing?”

I am battling with my impatience to see progress vs. what I know is a long process to find appropriate medication and dosage and be able to work through the behavioral modification protocols that we’ve been given. Sometimes I worry that my impatience will taint my observations, but when my husband asked me to call the vet to discuss this, I decided that it wasn’t just me seeing negative changes in Rogue.

I contacted the vet in SL today and voiced my concerns and we both agreed that we should back the dosage down to 5 mg. per day and observe her behavior at that level. I also emailed Dr. Overall to get her opinion of what we’re seeing. I’m sure that with her experience she’ll be able to tell me if this was the right decision. Wish us well!

Rogue Update 01-02-08

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I’ve decided that sometimes all you can do is shake your head and laugh when things don’t go as planned. As you know, we started Rogue on fluoxitine and alprazolam 7 weeks ago. Well, I wasn’t seeing much improvement in her reactivity and so I contacted Dr. Overall again to update her and see if we needed to make adjustments in her dosage or in the medication itself, or if this was just typical.

Well, come to find out that the dosage that we’ve been giving her of 1 mg. daily of the fluoxitine was wrong. Turns out that was a typo and we should have been giving her at least 5 mg. daily, if not 10 mg. So, after I found that out, I tried to contact the vet here and he’s out of town till next Tuesday. Ughh! At the prompting of my friends at Sheltie Rescue I called the vet’s office again and asked if one of the other atttending vets would consider changing the dosage of the prescription, so that we don’t have to wait till next week. Fortunately, they were nice enough to do that for us, and we’ve picked up the new dosage today.

I’m trying to look at this as a really long ramp-up time on the meds, instead of just viewing the last 7 weeks as being wasted, but I’m only partly convinced. LOL Hopefully in the coming weeks we will have some progress to report. I hope!!! :-)

Where Did 2008 Go?

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Well, another year has come and is nearly gone already. I don’t know where the time goes anymore! It’s been a year full of great accomplishments, a big loss, some continuing struggles and new beginnings. Wow, we really crammed alot into a year! LOL

Zoe earned her MACH, to become the first Sheltie in Utah to have that title. She also qualified to go to the AKC National Agility Championship in North Carolina in March, and we’re really looking forward to that trip!

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Twist tried his paw at regular obedience this year, and in his first Novice Obedience class, took first place and earned the High in Trial at the Utah Sheltie Specialty! Woohoo, Twist. He went on to finish his CD in September. Now we’re working on moving into Open Obedience!

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Raven took a break from competing in agility for most of the year, but she did try Rally Obedience at the Utah Sheltie Specialty, and she qualified first time out. She’s entered in an agility trial in Jan., so we’ll see if the break from competition and the training we’ve been doing have paid off. In the meantime, she says that she doesn’t mind just chilling out and chewing on a bully stick.

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2008 was a great year for Penny! She got to try out for a tv commercial, and even though she wasn’t chosen, we had a great time! Of course, now she thinks she’s a star and we’re just staff that here to serve her. LOL

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We said goodbye to Jessie this past August. :-( It was an unexpected loss, and she is greatly missed!

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Our attempts to help Rogue overcome, or at least manage more successfully her anxiety issues…continue. The last year has allowed us to meet some wonderful people. I feel really grateful to have found such great support and guidance as we work with Rogue. We hope that 2009 brings more progress for Rogue.

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As for Lucy, she’s enjoyed another year of being Lucy. There’s really not much more you can say. To Lucy it’s not the end of one year or the beginning of another…it’s just a wonderful day to be alive!!! :-)

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Lastly, I guess it’s time to admit that the little foster girl, (formally known as Lucy), has found her permanent home, with us. I knew there was a reason we hadn’t done any fostering for several years! LOL For obvious reasons, we’ve changed her name. My husband got to re-name her, and he’s chosen “Layla”. I looked up the meaning of the name and it’s “dark beauty”, so I guess he did a pretty good job, for just pulling a name out of the air…he doesn’t overanalyze naming like I do. Hehe. I don’t know that I’d describe her as a beauty just yet, more of a cutie at this point, but I’m sure she’ll grow into the name.

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So, I guess that about sums it up!

Magic Muffin Tin

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We finally got snow today. Not that I want snow, I hate winter, but I know we need the moisture. Anyway, before it started snowing today it was the most miserable windy morning, so we decided to stay inside and play where it was warm.

I thought it would be fun to play a game that our friends over at A Dog’s Journey had posted about a while back. I don’t remember what she called the game, but she did a fun video of her dogs playing it and you can find the link to the video at her site: http://adogsjourney.blogspot.com/

It’s pretty simple, you just need a muffin tin, some tennis balls and treats, and you’re ready to play. My dogs have played a few times before, but when we first played the game, I put treats in each of the muffin holes and put the tennis balls on top.

After they’d played a few times, I only put treats in selective muffin holes, and let them dogs use their wonderful sense of smell to find the right ones. :-) It’s fun and easy to play and gives the dogs something to do on a stormy day. Here’s some pictures of the dogs playing…

This is Rogue, patiently waiting till I tell her she can start. Isn’t she a good girl?

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Everyone got to play…

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Even the foster baby! She is such a smart little girl, figures new things out in no time!!!

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She couldn’t figure out why I had to keep taking pictures though…that wasn’t helping her find the treats any faster. LOL

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Still here…

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It’s been so long since I’ve posted it probably seems like we’ve dropped off the face of the earth, but we’re still here. Just busy!

We’re closing in on week four of Rogue being on the Fluoxitine and Alprazolam. I am still really anxious to see progress, but it seems slow in coming. Every once in a while I think I notice something that is a different reaction, or at least a smaller one. However, for the most part, (I’d say 95% of the time)…things are continuing as they were before. In instances that I can predict will be stressful for her, we have upped the dosage of the Alprazolam to the full .25 mg. pill as we couldn’t see any effect giving her the half pill. I don’t know that we’ve got it really figured out yet, as sometimes she seems more relaxed with the Alprazolam and other times she is even more cranked up, almost like she’s trying to fight the effects. I hope this latter reaction will fade as she gets used to the feeling.

Everyone else in the crew is doing fine and loving the cooler weather for walks. Well, except for Zoe and the foster pup, they both would prefer the warmer weather and like to sit in front of the heater or the wood stove. Zoe runs inside in the mornings after she takes care of business, and insists on snuggling up under the covers with me. Even though it’s getting cold, we still haven’t gotten any snow that’s stayed on the ground for more than a day or so. I’m wishing now I had left the agility equipment in the field a little longer LOL.

The male puppy that we had staying here, Dakota, was adopted by his permanent family just a day or two after we brought him home. We’re thrilled for him! He was such a sweetheart! I know the new family is just going to love him. The little girl is still here…and we’re loving her :-)

Rogue Vs. Zoe continues

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I guess I spoke too soon. Yesterday was not a good day for these two. No sooner have I written that we were seeing some slight improvement in the tension between Rogue and Zoe we had a flare up again. :-(

It all started about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. I was putting on my shoes to take the dogs for a hike and my husband walked from through the kitchen heading towards the hallway to the back door. I don’t know if Rogue was watching me put on my shoes and then he was closer than she expected when she noticed him or what, but she freaked and was scrambling as fast as she could to get out of his path. That’s when Zoe jumped in and attacked her. I don’t know if Zoe thought that Rogue was moving toward her and perceived it as a threat or what, but she had Rogue down on the ground before I could stand up.

I got them separated, looked them both over (no visible injuries), gave Rogue a 1/2 tablet of the Alprazolam and when things seemed to settle down a bit we went for a hike. I misjudged things again, thinking that the exercise would calm everyone down. It did seem like it until we got back home about 5:30. We were walking from the truck to the house and Zoe pinned Rogue under the car. Again I got them separated and again no punctures, or visible wounds, but Rogue was pretty shaken, so I gave her another 1/2 tablet of the Alprazolam. I couldn’t see an effect on her appearance or behavior either time that I gave the Alprazolam, so I think I’ll have to try the higher dose. Things seem a little less tense today, but we’re keeping a close eye on both of them. I’m re-reading the protocol for interdog aggression because I usually find that when something goes wrong, I’ve overlooked something that might have prevented the situation in the first place.